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yv-U.li Aii ju; 



SOUTHERN POLITICS 



By THOMAS SETTLE 



Asheville, N. C. 



Ng 



O Dixie-land, "my country, the hour 

Of thy pride and thy splendour has passed, 

And the chain which was spurned in thy moment of power. 
Hangs heavy around thee at last." 



These letters were written, ;md are now pnblislied in this form, at 
the request of a number of gentlemen who believe in the principles of 
the National Republican party. One primary object is to improve the 
condition of the Republican party in the South. Before this can be 
done it is essential to understand how the party came to its present 
condition. 

Tlie recomniendatioH is, concerted action on the part of the dele- 
gates from the South, in the party's National Convention. 



"Breathes there a man with soul sd dead. 
Who never to himself hath said. 

This is my own, my native land ! 
AVhose soul hath ne'er within him burned. 
As home his footsteps he hath turned. 

From wandering on a foreign strand 
If such there breathe, go, mark him well. 
For him no minstrel raptures swell : 
High though his titles, proud his name. 
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim ; 
Despite those titles, power, and pelf. 
The wretch, concentrated all in self. 
Living, shall forfeit fair renown. 
And, dnul»]y dying, shall go down 
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, 
T^nwept, unhonored, and unsung." 



Glory of the Civil War 



"Two freiieriitions jtassed before the secoiifl great crisis of our his- 
(ory had to lie faoed. Tlien came tlie civil war. terrilile and bitter in 
itself and in its aftermath, lint a strn.irtrle from wliich the nation finally 
emerged united in fact as well as in name, united forever. Oh, my 
hearers, my fellow countrymen, great indeed has been our good for- 
tune: for as time clears awa.v the mists that once shrouded brother 
fi-om brother and made each look 'as through a glass darkly' at the 
other, we can all feel the same jiride in the valor, the devotion and the 
fealty toward the right as it was given to each to see the right, shown 
alike b.v the men who wore the blue and by the men who wore the 
gra.v. Rich and prosperoiis though we are as a people, the proudest 
heritage that each of us has. no matter where he may dwell. North or 
South. East or West, is the innnort;il heritage of feeling, the right to 
claim as liis own ail the valor and all the steadfast devotion to duty 
shown by the men of both the great armies of the soldiers whose 
l(>ader was Grant and tlie soldiers whose leader was Lee. The men 
and the wf)men of the civil war did their fluty bravely and well in the 
days that were dark and terrible and sjilendid. We, their descend- 
ants, who pay homage to their memories and glory in the feats of 
might of one side, no less than of the other, need to keep .steadily in 
mind that the homage which counts is the homage of heart and of hand, 
and not of the lips: the homage of deeds and not of words only. We, 
too, in our turn, nmst prove our truth by our endeavor. We must 
show ourselves worthy sons of the men of the mighty days by the way 
in which we meet the problems of our own time. We cari'y our heads 
Iiigh because our fathers did well in the years that tried men's souls 
and we nmst in our turn so beai- ourselves that the children who come 
after us may feel that we. too. have done our duty." ***** 

"Each connnunity must always dread the evils which spring up as 
attendant upon the very qualities which give it success. We of this 
mighty western republic have to grapple with the dangers that spring 
from popular self-government tried on a scale incompar.ably vaster 
than ever before in the history of mankind, and from an abounding 
material prosjiei-ity greater, also, tlian anything which tho world has 
hitherto seen." ***** 

"It behooves us to remember that men can never escape being gov- 
erned. Either they must govern themselves or they must submit to be- 
ing governed by others. If from liiwlessness or fickleness, from folly 
or self-indulgence, they refuse to govern themselves, then most as- 
suredly in the end they will have to be governed from the outside. 
They can prevent the need of government fi-om without only by show- 
ing that they possess the power of government from within. A sover- 
eign cannot make excuses for his failures : a sovereign must accept the 
responsibility for the exercise of the power that inheres in hinr; and 
where, as is true in our republic, the yieople are sovereign, then the 
lieople nmst show a sober understanding and a sane and steadfast 
l»urpose if they are to jireserve that ordei-ly lilierty upon whi<'h as a 
found.-ition every republic must rest." — (President Roosevelt, at open- 
ing of Jamestown Exposition). 

Du:- "Qity 

JUL i <> ]ti33 



SOUTHERN POLITICS 

By THOMAS SETTLE, Ashevllle, N. C. 



"Tis a very jrood world that we live in. 

To lend, or to spend, or to j,'ive in. 

But to beg, or to borrow, or get a man's own. 

It's the verv worst world, sir, that ever was known." 



The political conditions of the South are, at the present time, in a 
transition state, that is so far as the attitude of the Southern Democ- 
racy towards the National Democracy is concerned. 

A spirit of unrest and dissatisfaction permeates Southern Democ- 
racy. This spirit, however, goes no further than a determination to 
dispute with the Democrats of other sections of the country the con- 
trol of the party as to candidates, policy and platform in the next 
national convention. AVidespread and intense as is this unrest and 
dissatisfaction of Southern Democrats with their national party. 
Southern Repul)licans have very little hojie of materially increasing 
their vote in any Southern state. Why is it that causes which are 
alnmdantly sufficient to sever men's party affiliations in other sections 
of the counutry. and which do so operate, have no such elTect in the 
South? Why Is it that thousands of Southern men who do not believe 
In the principles of the national Democratic party, as those princii^les 
are speculatively known, and who do believe in the i>rinciples of the 
Republican party, persistently vote the Democratic ticket? These 
questions are easily answered to the satisf;)ction of any Southern man 
of intelligence and independent political views. He will tell you. and 
truthfully tell you. that he does not join the Republican party in his 
state for the reason that the Southern Rei)ultlican household is in no 
condition to receive and entertain guests. 

Whence comes it that Southern politics is at so low an ebb? that 
honest and patriotic men feel constrained to affiliate with a party in 
whose principles they do not believe, and that they are precluded from 
joining the Republican party? 

Southern men are not alone responsible for the political conditions 
existing in the South. Southern Republicans are not alone justly to 
be held accountable for the condition of the Republican party in the 
South. What there is of a Republican party in the South is, perhaps, 
less their work than it is the work of Southern Democrats and certain 
Rei)ublica,ns of other sections of the country. In perfect candor and 
truth, it may be stated that there are not a great many of the leaders 
of the national party who are familiar with the Southern ])olitical 
conditions ; and not a few who care very little, one way or the other, 
aliout the subject. It is to many of them a sealed book and one which 
tlnw have not for years particularly cared to open, or to have opened 
foi' tliem. They have seen in Southern Republicanism the one and 



only proiMisitioii of so many votes in a nominating r-onvention. Tinif 
and again it lias heen proposed that even this representation in con- 
ventions should be reduced in ])r()i)ortion to the nunilier of voters dis- 
franchised by the election laws and practices in the South. If we 
allow a certaiu measure of patriotism and honest party purpose for 
these proposals and attempts, it must still be admitted that they have 
generally had a very jiractical i»olitical and jiarty result for their ob- 
ject ; to penalize the general political conduct of the South, Democrats 
and Republicans alike: and to strengthen the Republican party with 
the colored voters, and those having lingering sectional feelings in the 
doubtful states. Another object not to be ignored, was to check any 
symptoms of incipient independence in national conventions by South- 
ern delegates ; to hold the SAVord of Damocles over them ; to threaten 
them with "the big stick." unless they were real good. These proposi- 
tions have invariably been advanced on the eve of a national conven- 
tion before which there was spirited contest for the nomination. 

We cannot get a clearer conception of the views entertained, with 
reference to Southern politics by the controlling powers of the Reinib- 
lican party, than that expressed by Secretary Taft in his speech at the 
Republican convention in Greensboro. 

"In my judgment, the Republican i»arty of North Carolina would 
be much stronger as a voting party if all the federal offices were filled 
by Democrats. Of course, I cannot deny that a wish to fill public of- 
fice is an honorable aspiration, whether by appointment or by elec- 
tion, but when all hojie of choice by the peojtle is abandoned, and ev- 
erything is given over to infiuencing a distant api»ointing power to 
choose particular men to perform official functions in a community 
politically hostile to those men. the result is not good for the men or 
the community. The struggle for federal political office producing, as 
it does, jealousies and strifes and disa])pnintments. paralyzes united 
effort to make the party strong at the polls and worthy of success. 
The men ui)on whose change of vote success in the election depends are 
not particularly interested in the success of one faction or another, but 
they are interested that their votes shall be cast for those candidates 
for local and state office whose character, devotion to duty, intelligence 
and ability will assure good local and state government, and for those 
representatives in the national congress who will faithfully and cour- 
ageously carry out the high principles of the national Republican 
party with a due regard to the peculiar interests of the district and 
state they represent. As long, however, as the Republican itarty in 
• the Southern states shall represent little save a factional chase for 
federal offices in which business men and men of substance in the com- 
munity have no desire to enter, and in the result of which they have 
no interest, we may expect the present i)olitical conditions in the South 
to continue. I accept with confidence th(> assurances of your repre- 
sentatives tiiat you expect to appeal to the business interests of your 
community, to the men who read aright the signs of the times, and 
who understand that the real hope of the South is in having a num- 
ber of her states break from the Democr.-itic column and assert their 
independence of past ]iolitic;il traditions, in order that this section 
may he accorded that imi>ortance in national ninlfers to which her 



l)<)l)iilation, her wealth and intelligence entitle her. Republicans of 
North Cai'olina, in this yreat work of redeeming your state and your 
section from the present inculms of iron Democratic rule, your fellow 
Kepublicans of the entire country bid you God speed." 

This is a clear, explicit and frank statement of the case from bis 
view-point, and be is by no means alone in entertaining those views. 
It is in some of its features, a most severe arraignment of Southern 
Kepublicans ; but not of them alone ; an arraignment of a condition it is, 
and of every person who contributes to maintain that condition. It is 
not a passionate or ])artisau arraignment, nor is it made in anger or 
ill will. It was not made hastily, but after mature thought and delib- 
eration, and was presumably submitted to the president, and met bis 
approval, for Mr. Taft came direct to the convention from a visit to 
the president. It was not intended for strictly local or Southern con- 
sumption ; the entire people of the United States composed his audi- 
ence. The press of the country devoted nuich space to this notable ad- 
dress. If additional force could be added to the statements themselves, 
the personality of Mr. Taft and his official position in the government 
abundantly supplied that force. 

The answers to this indictment, so fur as I have been able to see 
them, have been meager, superficial, and have proceeded too much on 
partisan .lines. Our Democratic friends of the South have seemed to 
rejoice in these severe strictures, for they freely used them from the 
stump in the last cami)aign, being apparently oblivious of the fact that 
they are themselves the recipients of a very large proportion of them, 
both in what is said and in the necessary and unavoidable inference 
and deduction. 

Issue cannot be successfully joined on any statement of fact, or ar- 
gument made by Secretai-y Taft, in the above quotation ; but a wrong 
and misleading impression of Republican factionalism and the politi- 
cal perversity of the South generally, is left in the mind unless the re- 
search is carried far enough to ascertain the producing causes of these 
conditions he so graphically describes. 

A political party is no more exempt from the influences of environ- 
ment than an individual. In addition to this influence operating upon 
the Southern branch of the Republican party the treatment extended 
to them by their brethren of other sections of the country, and by the 
Republican administrations, when in power, must be considered. The 
two latter influences, in a broad sense, are embraced in the general 
term environment. 

Mr. Elihu Root in his most excellent speech delivered before the 
Republican national convention in St. Louis in 11HJ4, says : 

"A great political organization, competent to govern, is not a 
'•'lance collection of individuals brought together for the moment as the 
shifting sands are pilled up by the winds and sea, to be swept a^vay, 
to be formed and reformed again. It is a growth. Traditions and 



seutiiiients reachiii.n down thron,g:li strnjigles of yejirs gone uml the 
stress and heat of old contiicts and the intlnenees of leaders passecL 
away, and the ingrained hahit of applying fixed rnles, rules of int^i - 
pretation and thought — all give to a political party known and inalieii- 
ahle (pialities from which must follow in its deliherate judgment anil 
ultimate action like results for good or bad government." 

Let us in the clear light of this indisputably true principle govern- 
ing the birth, growth and development of a political party view 
s()utheru politics, ])articularly the southern branch of the Kepublican 
party. 

Party lines were formed during the period of reconstruction upon 
an acute and intense basis. Southern Republicans, indeed, had l)nt 
little, if any, influence in shaping the policy of the national party diu'- 
ing that period, although vitally interested ; for what was then doni' 
has visited its iutluence upon generations unborn at the time. The 
party in the South was almost ho])elessly handicai»ped in the days of 
reconstruction by the course of Mr. Thaddeus Stevens and other 
leaders of the national party. Their dream of making the southern 
states permanently Ke])ublican by means of the colored vote, and the 
methods pursued in sujiposed furtherance of that dream, have proven 
a veritable nightmare to southern Republicans, and have incalculably 
retarded the growth of that party in that section. 

After years of struggle, strife and intense feeling, seeing that the 
policy was a failure, in so far as it sought to put the southern states 
in the Republican column by tne aid of the colored vote, the policy 
was entirely reversed and revolutionized. The sectional issue was 
raised, the "bloody shirt" was waiVed. The Sontli. l)y some said never 
to have been out of the union, by other to have been readmltteil upon 
the terms of the reconstruction acts, was in fact still on the outside, 
so far as any effective political action or influence was concerned 
Then it became the policy to force the south solidly into the Demo- 
cratic column, and. on the sectional issue to force the balance of the 
country, a majority in the electoral college, into the Republican col- 
unui. This plan worked successfully for years. The southern Demo- 
crats helped to make it a success. In raising the sectional issue, they 
tried to outdo those Republicans in other sections who were engaged 
in that occupation. The result has l)een the undoing of the national 
Democratic jarty and practically the annihilation of all save the skele- 
ton of tlie Repulilican party in the southern states. Indeed, it was 
essential to the .success of the scheme that the Republican party of 
the South should not become a majority party, or even a very formi- 
dable rival at the polls. If the South had broken its solidity, otln-r 
sections of the country ,would probably have left the Republican party 

Still another influence came into play in ISTG. Then for the first 
time, southern politics became a subject of traffic, barter and exchange 
in the interest and behalf, incidentally at least, of a distinguished 



soil of the state of Oliio, Mr. Rutherford B. Hayes. The statement 
that Mr. Hayes received the votes of Louisiana, South Carolina ai)d 
Florida in the electoral college, as a result of an agreement and un- 
derstanding with southern Democrats whereby local Republicans were 
sacrificed, cannot be successfuly assailed. If we admit that the dis- 
turbed condition of the country justified this arrangement, it was 
none the less a sacrifice of the local Republican party. Mr. Hayes 
ai»pointed Governor Packard of Louisiana and Governor Chanib<^rlain 
of Soutli Carolina to lucrative federal offices, and this was doubtless 
a sufficient atonement made to them i)ers()nally for any injury they 
sustained, Irut the injury done the Kepublican party in the South h.as 
never yet been atoned. 

The local party has ever since worn the badge of inferiority, the 
stigma tliat was placed upon it in the days of reconstruction, and then 
again in 1876, by action and accpiiescence of Republican leaders in 
other sections of the country. 

I (piote from Mr. .Tolui Sherman's "Autobiogra])hy," Vol. 1, \\. 559. 
In a letter to Mr. Hayes written from New Orleans, where Mr. Sher- 
man was .-ittending the canvass of the votes, he says: 

"That you would have received at a f.-iir election a large majority 
in Louisiana, no man can (iuestion : thai you did not receive a majority 
is equally clear. But that intimidation of the very kind and nature 
provided against by the Louisiana law did enter into and control the 
election, in more election jtolls than woidd change the result and give 
you the vote. I believe as fli'mly as I write this. " 

Let me t|uote fi-om Mr. McCuUoch's "Men and Measures of Half a 
Century." p 42U. 

" My own oi>inion at that time was. .and still is, that if the dis- 
tinguished Northern men who visited those states innnediately after 
the election had stayed at home, and there had been no outside pres- 
sure u]ion the returning boards, their certificates would have been in 
favor of the Democratic electors ." 

Again let me quote from Mr. Blaine's "Twenty Years in Congress." 
^'ol. 2, p. 587. 

"Meanwhile the capital and indeed the country, were filletl with 
sensational and distracting runun-s : First that the Democratic ma- 
jority in the house would fililnister and destroy the count ; second, 
that they agreed not to 'filibuster" by reason of some arrangement 
made with ;Mr. Hayes in regard to future policies in the South." 

Again, from the same author and Vol. 2. pages 59.5-0-7: 

" Althougli his title had been in doul)t until within fortv-eight 



hours of his accession, he had carefully prepared his inaugural ad- 
dress. It was made evident by his words that he would adopt a new 
policy on the Southern question and upon the question of civil service 
reform. It was plainly his determination to withdraw from the South 
all national protection to tlie colored people, and put the white popu- 
lation of the reconstructed states upon their good faith and their 



honor, as to their course tonchin^ the politicnl rights of all citi- 



zens- 



^ "fl* ^ ^ T* 



"The one special source of dissatisfaction was the intention of the 
president to disregard the state elections in the three states upon 
\\]ios(> vote his own title depended. The concentration of interest 
was npon the state of Louisiana, where (governor Packard was ottici- 
ally declared to have received a larger popular majority than Presi- 
dent Hayes. By negotiation of certain eonnnissioners \.-ho went to 
Louisiana under appointment" of the president, the Democratic candi- 
date for governor, Francis T. Nichols, was installed in olHce. and 
Governor I'ackard was left helpless. \o act of president Hayes did so 
much to create discontent within the ranks of the Pepublican party. 
No act of his did so much to give color to tlie thousand rumors that 
tilled the political atmosphere, touching a liargain between the presi- 
dent's friends and some Southern leaders pending the decision of the 
electoral connnissioii. The election of the president and the election 
of Mr. Packard rested substantially upon the same foundation. Many 
Republicans felt that the president's refusal to recognize Mr. 
I'ackard ;is governor of Ti(m!siana furnished ground to his enemies 
for disputing his own election. Having been placed in the presidency 
by a title as strong as could be cohtirmed under the constitution and 
laws of the country, it was, in the judgment of the majority of the 
Republican party, an unwise and unwarranted act on the part of the 
president to purchase peace in the South by surrendering Louisiana 
t(» the Democratic party." ***** 

"For postmaster-general the president selected David M. Key, of 
Tennessee. The selection of Mr. Key was made to emphasize the 
change of Southern ixilicy wnicli President Hayes had foreshadowed 
in his inaugural address. ^Nlr. Key was a Democrat and personally 
popular. A Southern Democrat in a RepiU)lican cabinet presented a 
novel political combination. He was wise enough and fortunate 
enough to induce Hon. James N. Tyner, whom he succeeded as post- 
master-general, to remain in the departmeiit as first assistant in order 
that Republican senators and representatives might freely comnumi- 
cate upon party questions; wdiich Mr. Key delicately refrained from 
even hearing. The su'^gestion was made, however, by men of sound 
Judgment, that in projecting a new policy towards the South, which 
was intended to I»e characterized by greater leniency in certain di- 
rections, it would have been wiser in a party point of view, and more 
enduring in its intrinsic effect, to make the overture through a Re- 
pnldican statesman of rank and celebritv." 



St Ml one other authority on this sul)ject I wish to cite. Mr. Wood- 
row Wilson's "History of the .Vmerican People," Vol. .">. p. 112. 

"To 'Sir. Hayes the tacit oltligations of the situation were iilaiii. 
He withdrew the federal troops from the South. The Republican 
gevernments of Ti(misiana and South Carolina were dissolved, and 
the Democratic government which had claimed the election quietly 
took their place. The Supreme Courf of Florida obliged the return- 



iug board of the state to accept the returns which had come to them 
from the disputed conntry. and a Democratic government came there 
also in i)o\ver. The era of reconstruction was at an end." 

It is true as stated by Mr. Taft, that in matters of federal patro- 
nage Southern Republicans have had to appeal to a distant appointing 
power; l)ut the South is. in a jioint of mileage, no more distant from 
the appointing power than the states on the Pacific coast, and many 
other sections of our country. It will not be seriously contended, how- 
ever, that the "distant Jipitointing power" is as familiar with political 
conditions of the South as of the West, or has been as keenly alert and 
solicitiovis in regard to those conditions. Southern politics have not 
received the careful and patriotic thought and attention of the nati- 
onal leaders of either party. The South's strength in the electoral 
college has been regarded by the Demo<-rats as s(miething securely 
in possession, needing no cultivation to be kept, and by the Republi- 
cans as something unattainable, and therefore not soiight. Southern 
Republicans have been treated by their national brethren as country 
cousins, and poor relations, placed at the ban(juet table out of reach 
of the salt, and left to take care of themselves as best they coultl. 

It is not fair to censure Southern Republicans for their strife over 
federal patronage, when their national party has for years dealt with 
them only in connection with, and on the basis of, votes in national 
nominating conventions and federal patronage. 

Pick the winner of the presidential derby, give him the votes of 
your state and control for yourself, family and friends th(> local 
federal patronage, is, unfortunately, the goal for which too many 
Southern Keimblicans strive, and have been taught to strive by some 
of their national leaders; rather than to win elections at the polls. 
Tender these circumstances it is but natural that tlie h;diit should be 
formed of viewing the ])roposition of jiarty politics from that stand- 
point. Why censure Southern factionalism, when this policy is its 
very prolific breeding place? One other legitimate effect of it is, that, 
not only do the n.ntional leaders not look for any material increase 
in the voting strengtli of the party, but many of the so-called "organi- 
zations" in the South, which ;ire generally treated with for votes in 
the conventions, and allowed to control jiatronage. (hi not reall.v de- 
sire tliat there should be any increase in the voting strength of the 
party, for the very patent reason that therelty Othello's occupation, 
with its incidents, would be endangered. 

These things are fully understood by Democrats who are ,,out of 
joint .with their jtarty, and they would hardly feel that they were 
a i>art of the national Republican houshold b.v an affiliation with the 
Southerii liranch of it as mere voters, and have no stomach for such 
a scramble as is necessary to become an influential member of "the 
organization." 

Simthern delegates to conventions are singled out and ridcule is 



10 

he;i]te(l upon thoiii. It is an old and humorous story told of a negro 
delojiatc. after he had sold for fabulous prices all his ticket for seats 
in the convention hall — as an incident, his A'ote was supposed to go 
for the candidate of the gentleman who purchased his tickets — upon 
trying vainly to get another ticket from a brother delegate, and be- 
ing refused, indignantly said. "I like an honest man." Thereu]ion 
iieing asked what he c;illed an honest man said, "one who, when he's 
bought will stay bought." 

It is authentically stated that in this traffic there was on one oc- 
casion a certain gentleman who had the prefix of "General" to his 
n:nne. who procured a large pair of shears, and when he purchased 
any of these convention seat tickets he would cut in half bright cris]i 
and juicy legal tender notes of the United States government, giving 
one part of the bill to the delegate and giving him to understand that 
he had and e(|uity of redemption in the retained portion, as soon as 
(•crt.-iin t'ornialities of lialloting were concluded. 

If there is any truth in these persistant i)ublications, rumors 
and reports of the venality and unreliablity of delegates from the 
South to national conventions. let the fact be viewed in the light of 
the treatment extended to them by the dominant portion of their 
party. I daresay that there is probably much less money used in the 
South unlawfully, for political purposes, than in many other sections 
which escape notice because of the haltit of "unloading on the south." 
The South is held up to view as a "rotten political borough." a char- 
acter which was forced upon it during the ordeal of reconstruction, 
and so far as the rieiiultlican ])ortion of it is concerned was again 
forced upon it in 1870. 

The administration of ^Ir. Arthur, and tlie use made of the loc.-il 
federal patronage to control the delegates from the South for his 
nomination, nmst still be fresh in the minds of those who take any 
interest in political affairs. 

The industrial growth and development of the South since tlie 
war has been something phenomenal, but the movement along poli- 
tical lines has been and perhaps, still is. of a retrograde character. 
We have failed to appreciate, or at least failed to show by our action 
that we appreciate the influence of political parties as instrumentali- 
ties to improve the material conditions of daily life, and for \ho de- 
velopment of the resources of our country. 

President Roosevelt in his initial message to the present .session 
of congress, in speaking of technical and industrial education, says: 
"It would be impossible to overstate (though it is of course difficult 
quantitatively to measure) the effect upon a n.-ition's growth to 
greatness of what may be called organized jiatriotism, which neces- 
sarily includes the substitution of a national feeling for mere local 
pride, with as a I'esultant a high ambition foi* the whole country. 
No country can develoj) its full strength so long as the luirts which 



11 



iiiiikc lip the whole each put a feeling of loyalty to the part above 
the feeling of loyalty to the whole. This is true of seotions and it 
is just as true of classes." 

Let nie commend to my fellow Kepublicans of the country the 
study and application of the above language of the president to our 
political and party conditions. 

The people of the South are. perlia.ps, more influenced in their po- 
litical action by sentiment, than are the people of any other section 
t)f the country. Mr. Taft correctly appreciates the influence of habit 
and tradition uiion their ]iolitical (•(induct, but he gets the cart be- 
fore the horse, when lie practically insists that we of the South shall 
Iiecome a niajt)rity party at tlie polls before we receive the attention 
of the appointing power, and our brethren in Republican states. We 
can never become a majority iiarty until the jiolicy in dealing with 
us is changed. 

He advises that the Southern Republicans should apiteal to '"the 
business interests, to the men who read aright the signs of the times." 
This ai)peal has been, and is constantly being made, and there are 
many, very many of these men who sincerely wish to see the national 
Rei>ublican party remain in power; and yet. and yet, they continue to 
vote the Democratic ticket. Why? Habit, envinmment. tradition, 
and the low estate assigned to the local Repulilican party by their 
dominant bi'ethren. 



II. 

"I'm willing a nuin should go toll'able strong 

Agin wrong in the alistract. for that kind o'wrong 

Is always unpopular, and never gets pitied. 
Because it's a crime no one ever committed." 

The metes and bounds of the everlasting question of the mutual 
and reciprocal burdens, obligations, powers and privileges of govern- 
ment and citizenship have never been staked off with sufficient ac- 
curacy to command the acquiescence of all parties, under the con- 
stantly changing conditions of life. The vast, nay limitless, field of 
theory and speculation occupies so much of our thought, and en- 
croaches so upon what is really practical and tangible, that that 
which is really practical to be done in the way of improving govern- 
ment, is colored and toned by theory and speculation proceeding from 
the numberless sources of education, environment, tradition and pre- 
judice. 

The finished product of all endeavors in the direction of improv- 
ing popular government is the result of a compromise. The correc- 
tion even of admitted abuses which have crept into administratiou, 
or are discovered to have been inherent in the system of government 



12 



adopted, iiuist .m'lit'rally conit' as a (•(Hiiiironiise of some sort, at'tor 
long iieriods of dissention and unrest. 

The term itself, ,£:overnment. conveys different iinnressions and 
meanings to different minds. This impression is made still more var- 
ious and confused when the term "party" is joined with the term 
"gov(>rnnient." The impression we receive in consideriui!: any for- 
eign countr.v and its government is in some way different from that 
we have in considering our own country and government. 

Chief-Justice Chase in the case of Texas against White 74 T^ S. 
Rej). in considering the significance of tlie word "State," says: 

"It describes sometimes a people or connnunity of individuals 
united more or less closely in political relations, inhabititing tem- 
porarily or permanently the same country ; often it denotes only the 
country or territory, inhalnted by such a connnunit.v: not nnfre- 
(luently it is applied to the government under which the people live; 
at other times it re])r.esents the combined idea of people, territory, 
and govermnent." 

"In the constitution the term state most frequently expresses the 
combined idea just noticed, of jieople, territory, and government. 
A state, in the ordinary sense of the Constitution, is a political com- 
niunit.y of free citizens, occupying a territory of defined boundaries, 
and organized under a government sanctioned and limited b.v a writ- 
ten constitution, and established by the consent of the governed. It 
is the luiion of such states, under a connnon constitution, which forms 
the distinct and greater political unit, which that constitution desig- 
nated as the United States, and makes the people and states which 
(Mimiiose it one people and one country." 

We do not, perhaps, appreciate the part played by political parties 
as instrumentalities of government in other countries, nor does the 
above quotation take those in our own country into consideration. 
Our party association, an association formed and maintained too 
fre(iuently by local conditions and prejudices which are hardly con- 
sistent with national patriotism, gives color and tone to our view of 
our own country and government. The very names of our leading par- 
ties and the theory of our government add to the general confusion. 
Again our national legislation is so largely the work of committees com- 
liosed in their membership of repi'esentatives of both political luirties; 
and their work is so essentially joint, and the result of compromise, 
that it is difficult for either partly in any given instance to justly 
(•l.-iiiii s le credit for any beneficial measure, or to avoid altogether 
res]>oiisibility, in some degree, for legislation which jsroves to be 
unpopular, or which fails to adjust according to itopular denmnds 
Uie evils it is designed to remedy, or falls short in conferring the 
blessings intended. The majority party it is true is in a general 
sense held resi)onsible. But this is often very unjust. It is certainly 
;i fallacious rule of judgment except in those instances where the 
measure becomes a strictly p.arty one, by reason of its nature, and 
the fact that each party seeks to bind its members in support or op- 



13 



j)OSiti(>n by cuucus action. Ainemliiieuts to the measure after it has 
been reported, and after caucusses have been held, may even then, 
on the floor or in oonference. materiallly change its status, 'and the 
responsibility of parties, and of individuals. The putative father 
nuiy auer all be innocent. 

The Republican party, the heir and successor of the federalist, and 
WhiLT parties, fails in every election to receive the support of 
many thousands of voter.s who were old Whigs, Particularly is this 
true in the South. They believe, theoretically, in the same principles 
of government that brought the federalist and whig parties into ex- 
istance, but they vote the Democratic ticket, which is practically act- 
ing as different from their beliefs and political principles as is 
possible under existing conditions. This inconsistency and contra' 
diction in conduct and faith is based upon local sentiment and pre- 
judices, and lack of faith in the Republican party as a national party; 
as the legitimate and worthy heir of the federalist and whig parties. 

It would require a vast deal of special pleading for either the Re- 
liublicau or Democratic party of the present daj^^ to justify their mu- 
tual pretensions and claims of being a national party, or rather to 
acijuit themselves of the charge of being frequently actuated, in na- 
tional conventions, and in congress, by local and sectional impulses. 

We cannot separate in this country our ideas of government from 
our ideas of party. However foreign to the ideas of our ancestors 
who framed our written constitution — not, of course, meaning in this 
reference all of the Amendments thereto after the civil war— -the fact 
is that ours is a party government. 

Mv. James Bryce, the present ambassador from England to this 
country, in his v.-ork, "The American Connnonwealth," among many 
other valuable comments on the party system in this country, says: 

"The Si)irit and force of party has in America been as essential to 
the action of the machinery of government as steam is to a locomotive 
engine; or, to vary the simile, party association and organization are 
to the organs of government almost what the motor nerves are to the 
muscles, sinews, and bones of the huumn body. They transmit the 
"motive power, they determine the directions in which the organs act. 
* * * It is into the hands of lue parties that the working of the gov- 
ernment has fallen. Their ingenuity, stimulated by incessant rivalry, 
has turned many provisions of the constitution to unforeseen uses, 
and given to the legal institutions of the country no small part of their 
present color. 

"In the United States, the history of party begins with the Consti- 
tutional convention of 1787 at Philadelphia." Mr. Bryce then briefly 
reviews the history of parties in the United States down to the elec- 
tion of 1870, and says: "A new era was opening which called either 
for the evolution of new parties, or for the transformation of the old 
ones by the adoption of tenets and the advocacy of views suited to the 
needs of the times. But this fourth period, which began with lS7(i, 
has not yet seen such a transformation, and we shall "therefore find, 
when we come to examine the existing state of parties, that there i.s 



14 



;iii nnrc-ility niid lack of vital force in both Itepublicans and Demo- 
crats, powerful as their orijauizations are." 

* * * * "What are tli^ir principles, their distinctive tenets, their 
tend-encies? * * * * "Neither party has any principles, any distinctive 
tenets. Both have traditions. Both have tendencies. Both have cer- 
tainly war cries, organizations, interests enlisted in tlieir support. 
But those interests are in the main the interests of getting or keeping 
the patronage of the government. Tenets and policies, points of politi- 
cal doctrines and points of political ])ractice. have all but vanished. 
They have not been thrown away but have been stripped away by 
time and the pro.gress of events, fulfilling some policies, blotting ont 
others. All has been lost, except otlice or the hope of it." 

* * * * "When life leaves an organic body it liecomes useless, fetid, 
pestiferous: it is fit to be cast out or buried from sight. What life is 
to an organism, principles are to a party. When they which are the 
soul have vanished, its lx)dy ought to dissolve, and the elements that 
formed it be re-grouped in some new organism : 

'The times have been 

That when the brains were out the man vrould die." 

"But a party does not always tlms die. It may hold together long 
after its moral life is extinct. Gnelfs and (ihibelines warred in Italy 
for nearly two centuries after the Emiteror had ceased to threaten the 
Pope, or the Pope to befriend the cities of Lomliardy. Parties go on 
contending because their members have formed habits of .ioint action, 
and have contracted hatreds and prejudices, and also because the 
leaders find their advantage in using these habits and playing on tliese 
])reiudices. * * * * The mill has been constructed, and its machinery 
goes on turning, even when there is no grist to grind. * * * -" 

These criticisms were made by this distinguished man some years 
ago, but they have lost none of their force. Time has only prf»vcd 
their truth and justice. 

Issues with a sentimental feature attached seem to liifluence our 
people more than others, than those whicli may lie called more strictly 
economic. 

Such an i.ssue. for instance, is the so-called race question, fre- 
quently spoken of as one of the "white nian's burdens;" a burden 
which is increased in weight and irritation by party attitude to- 
wards it. 

It is not my purpose here to enter into a discussion of the various 
phases of this question, only some of those phases. 

The political status of the colored race is not so difficult to define 
theoretically, what it actually is in practice is another matter. The 
sphere of the colored man's influence upon the political institutions 

» 

and practices of our country was greatly changed by his emancipa- 
tion. The declaration of his status made by the constituted authori- 
ties of the government, may be enumerated as the emancipation proc- 
lamation, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and the fifteenth amendments 
to the Constitution, and the enforcement acts of congress. 

The manner in which these amendments became part of our or- 
ganic law: the manner in which the Fifteenth Amendment has now 



15 

iK'coir.e i>ra<tically a dead l(4ter : the s])irit of tlu' enforeemeiits acts, 
and tlie metluxls iinrsaed in exf^t-ntiii;; them: the Ititterness of feeliiis; 
then entjeudered, and the modern dema.^o.i^ie, party, ett'orts to keep 
this feeling aliv^. have unfortunately fixed upon each i^arty an unde- 
sirable character in dealing with this ((uestion. 

Is it as some say. a national (piestion, and if so in what sense? 
Before what national tribunal is it pending, and in what form? The 
enforcement acts have been declared unconstitutional, but before this 
decision was reached they had already sown a bountiful crop of dis- 
cord and confusion, the harvesting of which is not yet over. What 
availeth it to decljire a man innocent after he has been executed? 
I.et me quote from Mr. Woodntw Wilson's "History of the American 
I'eople," Vol. 5, p. 130 : 

"Slowly cases tried under the various enforcement acts which had 
l)een meant to secure the negroes against interference and intimida- 
tion in the exercise of their civil rights crept up, by appeal, to the Su- 
preme Court of the United States and began one by one to be reached 
on its interminable docket ; and in each case the court declared the 
powers congress had assumed in those acts clearly incompatible with 
the constitution. The rights of the negroes to asseml)le and to Itear 
arms, for examjjle, which congress had sought to protect and which 
they enjoyed, the court declared, as citi/.ens of the states, a.nd it was 
not competent for congress or the federal courts to punish individuals 
who interfered with it. The power conferred upon congress by the 
thirteenth, foiirteenth and fifteenth amendments, to secure the ne- 
groes' equality of civil rights with the whites, was, it decided, a ])ower 
given to be exercised in restraint of the states, not against individuals, 
as the act against the "conspiracies" of the Ku Klux had used it, and 
the states, not the federal government, n.mst punish those who sought 
to destroy that e(iuality. 

"The legislation which General Grant had put so energetically into 
execution was unconstitutional and void. But it was 1882 before that 
sweeping conclusion was reached ; the acts had been executed long 
ago and their consequences were complete. Only the thought of con- 
stitutional lawyers and the course to be pursued by the federal gov- 
ernment for the future were cleared I>y the belated decisions." 

On February the sth. 1804. congress passed an act under the follow- 
ing title: "An Act to repeal all statutes relating to supervisors of 
elections and special deputy marshals, and f(n' other purposes." 

The fifteenth amendment is now practically admitted l)y all patri- 
otic- and thinking people, of both parties, to have been a gigantic blun- 
der. All so-called "force iTills" met their Waterloo when the Lodge 
bill was finally defeated. These things would seem to indicate an end 
of congressional activity along these lines. 

An acquiescence in the recent constitutional amendments in the 
Southern states restricting suffrage confirms this conclusion. Nay, 
tliose amendments cannot l)e reached by a direct assault. The "grand- 
father clause" is not. /kt sc. unconstitutional. It does not in terms 



10 

(Iiscriiuiu;iro jiiiJiiust tlie colDVcd iii:iii in sncli a niaiiiicr as to iuciir the 
coiKli'iiiiiatiou of the tifteeiith anieiidnient. 

Whatever (liscriiuinatioiis are made a.uaiust tlie eoha-ed man as a 
I>()liti(*al factor will in the future as they have been chiefly in the 
])ast, he made in jiractice and not in constitutional )»r<»visions, and 
legislative acts: will he chiefly local and not general in extent; will 
he dithcnlt of detection, and almost imixtssihle of le.sjal proof, for the 
election officers who i)erpetrate these wrou;j:s will he ni)held in their 
iiction hy their party associates. Even if these obstacles are sur- 
nKumted. the question will nltimately come np for decision in .some 
contest for a seat in congress, and will fall on ears more or less at- 
tentive, according to the need of a working party majority in that 
branch of the government. The decision will .-ironse at most a short 
lived discussion ; will he regarded as a temp(»rary expedient, and may 
he reversed hy the nmjority in the next h(tnse. ()r at least overlooked 
and ignored. 

Each house is hy the constitution nnule the sole judge of the elec- 
tion and qualification of its own members: and while there is a gen- 
eral harmony in the legal principles involved in contests decided by 
each house, the "party principle" is sometimes consi»icuously pronii- 
rent. and proves itself more than a nnitch for Law and equity. The 
unavoidable i)resence of this ])arty i)rinciple. in some degree, in all 
such contests, deprives the decision of that full faith and credit which 
should always be given a judicial decision. They are very largely 
regarded as political decisions, that is decisions made, jn-o hue rice. 
1)y ])artisan majorities. It is almost imi)Ossible that the (luestions 
should arise in any such form that we can get a decision on tlie mer- 
its from any of our higher courts, for they are so essentially political 
(juestions. The ])olitical tribunals of the .!,M>vernnient have jurisdic- 
tion of them. 

Some of the iiractices resorted to to silence the colored vote in the 
South, other than the fraudulent falsification of election returns, are 
enumerated in Mr. Wilson's History. Vol. .". p. 137: 

"Every device IvUown to i>o]iticians, every i>Ian that could be hit 
niton that ])oliticians had never before been driven to resort to, was 
m.-ide use of to reduce or nullity the negro vote. It was a great ad- 
vantage to the men who had regained their power in the South that 
the whole machinery of elections, at least, was again in their hands. 
They had never before made such use of it. The older traditions that 
surrounded the use of the ballot in the S»uth were of the most hon- 
orable sort. But the poison of the reconstru'ction system had done its 
work— no man any longer found it hard to learn methods of mastery 
which were not the methods of law or honor or fair play. The new 
election officers found many excuses for rejecting or ignoring the ne- 
groes' voting papers. Voting jdaces were often fixed at i)oints so re- 
mote from the centers of jioitnlation that only a small proi)ortion of 
the negroes could reach them during tlie hours fen* voting : ' or v,-ere 
changed without notice so that onlv the white voters who had been in- 



17 



toniied eiiukl tind tlunii readily. In some cases sei)arate ballot boxes 
were used for the several offices to be filled at the elections, so let- 
tered that the illiterate negroes distin,!j;nished them \Yith difficulty and 
so shifted in their order from time to time that the secjueuce in Avhich 
they stood was constantly bein^ changed, and no vote was counted 
which was not put into the right box. In districts where the negroes 
nnistered in unusual numbers too few voting places were provided, 
;uid the voters were in-evented from casting their ballots rapidly l)y 
premediated delays of all sorts, so that the full vote of the district 
could not be cast." 

These prjictices are still in vogue to some extent in certain sections 
of the South, though they are no longer necessary in those states 
where there have been amendments to the constitution in the form of 
the so-called "grandfather clause." There is now no real call for the 
national Republican party to go into hysterics or convulsions on the 
subject of the negro vote. In North Carolina, certainly a majority of 
laose who are able to vote under the new constitution, vote the Dem- 
. ocratic ticket. The new generation of the colored race do not feel 
any unusual, any overpowering obligation to the Republican pjirty. It 
is a mistake for the party to assume that it has any lieu on their 
vote. 

The question then is not pending before any national governiuental 
tribunal, exceiit as issues involving it may arise in contests for seats 
in the house of representatives. 

It is not pending in any form before any of the executive depart- 
ments. 

The Brownsville investigation gives it a certain, or rather an ini- 
certaiu status before the senate. This investigati(ni involves the 
question whether a few individuals have been treated wrongfully and 
unlawfully by an exec-utive order. If wrong was done, it is not al- 
leged or believed by any one that it was done on account of the color 
or race of the individuals. The fact of their being colored men, and 
the fact of a presidential election being near at hand, afford some 
ground for speculation and more or less high sounding talk. The 
American eagle utters a few timely shrieks. The brother in black 
renews some old acquaintances and forms some new ones ; sits up and 
takes some notice on the eve of a national convention; doesn't feel 
that the rights of his race are particularly involved in all tliis. and 
has a vague suspicion that he is possibly being used as a cat's paw. 
No one can seriously contend that the Brownsville investigation had 
in its inauguration, or now has hardly any other than a jjolitical com- 
plexioi* Are not these agitations of the race question some of the 
renuiants of the ]io]icy of Mr. Stevens? 

"The dominance of the negroes in the South was to be made a 
principle of the very constitution of the union" (speaking of the 13th, 
14tli and lath amendments) * * * * "The price of the policy to which 
it gave the final touch of permanence was the temporary disintegra- 



IS 



tioii of Southern society uiul the utter, apparently the irretrievable, 
alienation of the South from the political party whose mastery it had 
been Mr. Stevens' chief aim to perpetuate." 

******* 

"It be.iran to be i)lainly evident to all who were willinc: to look 
facts in the face what Mr. Stevens and his radical colleajjues had 
really accomplished by their itolicy of Thorough. They had made 
the white men of the South implacable enemies, not of the Union, but 
of the party that had saved the Union and which now carried its af- 
fairs in its hands. Their reconstruction, whose object had been not 
the rehabilitation of the Southern .uovernments, but tlie political en- 
frnnchisenient of the negroes, had wrought a work of bitterness in- 
comparably deeper, incomparably more difficult to undo, than the 
mere effects of war and the virtual concpiest of arms. They had made 
the ascendency of the jiarty of the TUiion seem to the men of the South 
nothing less than the corruptiosi and destruction of their society, a 
reign of ignorance, a I'egime of ]K)wei' hai'shly used : and this revolt, 
these secret orders with their ugly work of violence and terror, the.se 
intinite, desperate shifts to be rid of the burden and nightmare of 
wnat had been jtut ui)on them. W('r(> the (-((nseiiuence." (Wilson's 
History. Vol. 5, ])p. ."iS, 77). 

As a national (piestion it concerns all to see tliat the colored peojile 
are given etjual opjmrtunity and protection in law and in ])ractice. As 
a national ([uestion, it cou<eiTis niunen.ns i>liilantliroi)ic and edu'-a- 
tional societies which are only remotely if at all connected with tlie 
government, national or state. As a national <piestion it is jtending 
I>efore the forum of the national conscience, and calls for fair dealing 
by and tow.nrds them as a race and as individuals. As a national 
(piestion it calls upon the patriotism and the conscience of both politi- 
cal parties to be removed frou) the list of (piestions dealt with in a 
partisan and sectional spirit. 

As a local question it is all of what is said above, and it is more. 
It is pending before every state legislature where the colored people 
are numerous in the form of a claim and an obligation for the appro- 
priation of money for the establishment and maintenance of schools 
and asylums: and liefore the authorities of evei-y county for the es- 
tablishment of homes for the feel)le, the poor, and the aged. Their ed- 
ucation is not a national governmental (luestion. The national govern- 
ment is under no obligation to furnish them the means or the oppor- 
tunity for acquiring an education. 

As a labor question it is essentially local, and governed iiy local 
laws and customs of contract and agreement. 

As a social question it is beyond the power of national or state 
control. That is a matter for the individual to decide. A Inan is 
usually able to choose his companions and associates, and like water, 
he generally linds his level. 

It is a perniciously active political and jiarty question, and in tliis 
sense is liotli nation:;! and local. The Republican party gave it, in the 
days of reconstruction, a national sphere of influence, and though 



19 

this has griidunlly dwindled until it now reaches no further than n 
nouiinatin.n convention, and the possible control of the colored vote in 
a few doubtful states, this question has perhaits enabled the Demo- 
cratic party to save its life nationally and locally. To them it has 
been a life preserver and they struggle to retain it. To Southern Re- 
publicans it has been like the old man of the sea who could not be 
shaken off. It has l)enetited some individual members of the national 
Republican party, and it may benefit some more. It has benefited 
many members of the Democratic party, and that party will proI)ably 
continue for some time to draw dividends, and inspiration from this 
source. But to the country at large it has been and is, as a political 
(piestion, a curse. It is a demoralizmg and corrupting influence upon 
tne politics of the country in that it has lowered party ideals and 
perverted ])arty principles and practices. 

it has led to a greater wrong than that which conferring the biilh^t 
on the colored man scnight to correct. "The right of citizens of the 
United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United 
States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition 
of servitude,"' is the language of the fifteenth amendment. The In- 
hil»ition is that he shall not be discriminated against on account of his 
race, color, or itrevions condition of servitude. So far so good, very 
tine. The result of all this is that the entire South is discriminated 
against in national legislation and influence, the brother in black 
along with the balance. In regulating the elective franchise he shall 
not be discriminated against as a class, but since the country is co!i- 
trolled by political parties, and since Mr. Stevens' ])lans of making 
the South permanently Republican by the aid of the negro vote have 
mi.scarried. the fact of the negro's being a political factor, has led to a 
discrimnation against a vast section of the country, and embracing 
many classes. That vast section embracing eleven states which at- 
tempted to secede from the Union, and which now sends twenty-two 
Democratic senators to congress, and ninety-five Democratic repre- 
sentatives ; which furnishes one hundred and twenty Democratic 
votes in the electoral college; and which sends two hundred and forty 
delegates to the Reimblican national convention; this vast section 
representing so much in industrial wealth is discriminated against. 

No political discrimination against classes as such in regulating 
voting privileges. No invidious distinction as between sheep and 
goats. Oh, no. Sacrifice the whole herd. Wall off the pasture. 

The Industrial growth and development of this Southland within 
the past quarter of a century has been something phenomenal. 

:Mr. Samuel Spencer, the late president of the Southern Railroad, 
in a public address shortly before his tragic death said. "Tlie South 
has entered upon a period of increased production in agriculture and 
in manufactures, and of general industrial and conunercial activity, 
such as her best friends and most enthusiastic prophets had scarcely 



20 

(Irc-iiiKMl (if fifteen years ago. Witliiii that period the cash value of 
her cotton erop has donbled, the amount of pis: iron prodncert at her 
furnaces has increased more than threefold. Cotton factories have 
si)ruH,i,' u]! within her borders to the extent that nun-e 'of her cotton 
crop is now manufactured on her own soil than in all the mills of 
New England. The total value of her aiuunil manufactures now ag- 
gregates nearly eighteen hundred millions in value. The total vulue 
of her agricultural products is now over seventeen hundred millions 
l)er annum." 

Mr. W. W. Finley, the successor of Mr. Spencer as president of th(> 
Southern Kailway. supplements this statement in a public address in 
refei-ence to the affairs of his company, as follows: 

"This increase is likewise indicated in the volume of traffi- han- 
(1 ed by this comiiany. In ISO.") the number of fi-eight tons carried one 
mile was ],0r)S,9o2,SS4. while in lJ)()(i. the number of tons carried one 
mile was 4.4<SS,f)l 5,830, showing an increase of over 300 per cent., oi". 
allowing for the increased mileage, an in<Tease of over 1?S ]ier cent., 
while in ISO.", the numlter of passengers hauled one mile was ITS.Ol."),- 
1)2;") as against ri40,ril8.(Ua in 100(], shitwing an increase of over 200 
percent., or allowing for the increased mileage, an increase per mile 
of road of over 80 per cent. Nowhere in the T'nited States, except in 
the two states of the extreme Northwest, Washington and Oregon, hiis 
there been such industrial development as in the South." 

Statistics from other railroads doubtless show a corresjionding in- 
crease in their business. These are Imt sign boards on the road of 
jn-ogress. And yet this great section of this country has not tlie iiro- 
])ortioiiate rei)resentation and influence in the conduct of and in sluip- 
iiig the i)olicy of the government that Ireland lias in the English g<»v- 
ermnent. Ireland is at least accorded a chief secretary in the min- 
istry of that government in addition to her mend)ers of parliament. 
The South has not a memlier of the cabinet, and in ever.v congress 
encounters attempts to legislate in hostility to her interests. Political 
parties are solely responsible for this condition of affairs. It is no 
solution of tlie difficulty to attempt to fix responsibility r>n the Re- 
publican part.v or on the Democratic party, tliey are .lOintly and i)er- 
haps (vimill.v responsiltle. 

The Democratic i)art.v seems williu'j: to sacrifice everything to 
maintain its local supremacy in the South, and tlie Republican part.v 
seems willing to give them all the aid they need in the accomiilishment 
of this glorious ob.iect. It seems agreed by both sides to operate polit- 
ically in the South under a suspension of all rules. 

Secretary Taft gravel.v tells the country that. "In my (his) .iudg- 
ment the Rejinblican ])arty of North Carolina i and he doubtless meant 
this as descrii)tive of the South generally), would be much strcmger 
as a voting part.v if all the federal offices were filled by Democrats." 

That s(>ems to be an Ohio idea. Mr. Hayes made some experiments 
alonir this line without achievins: anv verv brilliant results. The man 



21 



whose iioliticnl nMiliation is securiHl by the .uift of ;iu office, is in tlie 
inarkot to the highest hi'dder, mikI generally returns to his former 
affiliation, or shifts to a more lucrative one as soon as his tenure of 
office exjures. I do not mean here to disconraj^e the recognition of 
new converts to the faith; only to sugj^est that the fibre of that faith 
which comes iuto action so haltingly is a legitimate subject of in- 
(luiry. Not a disbarment or a disqualificatiou for office, that he is a 
new convert, and he should not be discriminated against as a class. 

Mr. Taft admits the fact that the South has not that influence in 
governmental affairs that she should have. "* * * The real hojte of 
the South is in having a number of her states break from the Demo- 
cratic column and assert their iiideiiendence of past political tradi- 
tions -in order that this section may be accorded that imi)ortance in 
national matters to which her population, her wealth, and her intel- 
ligence entitle her." If her population, her wealth, and her intelli- 
gence have not secured for her the measure of influence to whicli she 
is entitled, what other resources or qualification does she needV The 
only conclui^ion to be reached is that she is excluded on account of 
politics, and by the action of political parties. 

We nuist face the conclusion that it is a "political heart" whicli 
pumps vitality into this race cpiestion in our body politic. That under 
our constitution and laws it must be dealt with by the political de- 
jiartments of our government. 

"Earth is sick. 
And Heaven is weary, of the hollow words. 
Which states and kingdoms utter when they talk of truth and Justice." 

Chief Justice Taney, in the case of Luther vs. Borden et al., in V. 
S. Rep. 48. says: "Much of the argument on the part of the plaintiff 
turned upon political rights and political questions. ui)on which the 
court has been urged to express an oi)inion. We decline doing so. 
The high power has been conferred on this court of passing judgment 
ui)on the acts of the state sovereignties and of the legislative and 
executive branches of the federal government, and of determining 
whether they are beyond the limits of powei- nnirked out for them re- 
spectively by the constitution of the United States. This tribunal, 
therefore, should be the last to overstep the boundaries which limit 
its own jurisdiction. And while it should alwa.ys be ready to meet any 
question confided to it by the constitution, 'it is equally its duty not 
to pass beyond its appropriate sphere of action, and to take care not 
to involve itself in discussions which properly belong to otlier 
forums." No one, we believe, has ever doubted the proposition that, 
according to the institutions of this country, the sovereignty in every 
state resides in the jieople of the state, and that they may alter and 
change their form of government at their own jdeasure. But whether 
they have changed it or not by abolishing an old government, and es- 
tablishing a new one in its place, is a question to be settled by the 
political power. And when that power has decided, the court's are 
bound to take notice of its decision and follow it." 

If an attempt is made to invoke the power of the courts, in solving 
and adjusting these inequalities of citizenship by grafting a political 



22 



ri.irlit on a civil ri.trlit, and alleging the infraction of both, it is a long, 
rocky and expensive road to travel; a jonrney not apt to be nnder- 
taken by an individual alone. He wants and ninst have company. 
Therefore there must be some concerted action by. those similarly 
wronged. A number of individuals must feel that the initiative rests 
with them. Assuming the concurrence of favorable circumstances, 
willingness to undertake. the journey and ability to meet the expenses ; 
if you elect to bring an action for money damages for the deprivation 
of a jxilitical or a civil right, or both, the chances are that if you 
finally get a judgment, the execution could not find anything with 
which to satisfy the judgment. What judgment could the court ren- 
der that would establish the political right? 

Some of the difficulties encountered in an effort to hit the target 
may be seen by referring to the case of Mills vs. Green, a South Caro- 
lina case reported in V. S. Uep. I.ll). Mr. .Justice (Jray, delivering the 
opinion, says : 

"In the case at tlie Imr. tlie wlutle olij<'ct of tlie bill was to secure 
a right to vote at the election, to be held, as the bill alleged, on the 
third Tuesday of August. b'^O.", of delegates to the constitutional con- 
vention of South Carolina. Before this appeal was taken by the i)lain- 
tiff from the decree of the Circuit Court of A]>iieals dismissing his 
bill, that date had ])assed. and, before the entry of the ap]ieal in this 
court, the convention had ;i.ssembled. |»ursuant to the statute of South 
Carolina of 1S94, by which the convention had been called. * * * The 
defendant moved to dismiss the api>eal, assigning as one gi-ound of Iiis 
motion, that there is now no actual controversy involving re;il and 
sulist.-intial rights itetween the jtarties to the record, ;ind no subject- 
matter upon which the judgment of this court can operate. 

"We are of opinion that the appeal nuist be disiiiissed upon this 
ground, without considering any other question appearing on the rec- 
ord or discussed by counsel. 

"The dut.v of this court, as of every other judicial triliunal. is to 
decide actual controversies by a judgment which can be carried into 
effect, and not to give oitinions upon moot duestions or abstract projio- 
sitions, or to declare princiiiles or rules of law which cannot affect the 
matter in issue in the case before it. It necessarily follows that when, 
pending an appeal from th(> judgment of a lower court, and without 
any fault of the defendant, an event occurs which renders it impos- 
sible for this court, if it should decide the case in favor of the plain- 
tiff, to grant him any effectual relief whatever, the court will not pro- 
ceed to a formal judgment, but will dismiss the appeal." 

The above decision is modified by a divided court in the case of 
Giles vs. Harris, 1S9 U. S. Rep. Mr. Justice Holmes, delivering the 
opinion, says : 

"This is a liill in ecpiity 1)rought I)y a colored man. on behalf of 
himself, and on behalf of more than r>.()0() negroes, citizens of the 
county of Montgomery. Alaliama. similarly situated and circum- 
stanced as himself, against the board of registrars of that county. * * 

"This election has gone by, so that it is impossible to give specfic 
relief as to that. But we are not prepared to dismiss the bill or the 
api)eal on th.-it ground, liecause to lie enabled to cast a vote in that 



23 

election is nut, as in Mills against Green. loO IJ. S., the whole oltjeot 
of the bill. It is not even the i)rincii)al olt.iect of the relief souirht by 
the plaintiff. The principal object of that is to obtain the permanent 
advantajies of registration as of a date before 1903. * * *" 

"The (liflicnlties which we cannot overcome are two. and the first 
is this: The plaintiff alleges that the whole registraticm scheme of 
the Alabama constitntion is a frand upon the constitution of the 
United States, and asks us to declare it void. But of course he could 
not maintain a bill for a mere declaration in the air. He does not try 
to do so. but asks to be registered as a party qualified under the void 
instrument. If then we accept the conclusion which it is the chief 
)»uri)ose of the bill to maintain, how can we make the court a party 
to the unlawful scheme by accepting it and adding another voter to its 
fraudulent lists? If a white man came here on the same general alle- 
gations, admitting his sympathy with the iilan. but alleging some 
special prejudice that had ke]>t him off the list, we hardly should 
think it necessary to meet him with a reasoned answi-r. But the re- 
lief cannot be varied because we think that in the future the partic- 
ular plaintiff is likely to try to overthrow the scheme. If we accept 
the i)laintifl"s allegations for the purposes of his case, he cannot com- 
plain. We nuist accept or reject them. It is impossible simply to 
shut our eyes, put the ]»laintiff on the lists, be they honest or fraudu- 
lent, and leave the determination of the fundamental question for the 
future. If we have an opinion that the bill is right on its face, or if 
we are undecided, we are not at liberty to assume i>t to be wrong for 
the purposes of decision. It seems to us that unless we are ])repared 
to say that it is wrong, that all its principal allegations are inmia- 
teriaf and that the registration i)lan of the Alabama constitution is 
valid, we cannot order the plaintiffs name to be registered. It is not 
an answer to say that if all the blacks who are qualified according 
to the letter of the instrument were registered, the fraud would be 
cured. In the first place, there is no probal)ility that any way now is 
open by which more than a few could be registered, but if all could 
be the'difhculty would not be overcome. If the sections of the consti- 
tution concerning registration were illegal in their inception, it would 
be a new doctrine in constitutional law that the original invalidity 
could be cured by an administration which defeated their intent. 
We express no opinion as to the alleged fact of their unconstitution- 
ality beyond saying that we are not willing to assume that they are 
valid, in the face of the allegations and main oltject of the bill, for 
tlie purpose of granting the relief which it was necessary to pray in 
order that that object should be secured. 

"The other difficulty is of a different sort and strikingly reinforces 
the argument that equity cannot undertake now, any more than it 
has in the past, to enforce political rights, and also the suggestion 
that state constitutions were not left unmentioned in Sec. 1970 U. S. 
by accident. In determining whether a court of equity can take juris- 
diction, one of the first (piestions is what it can do to enforce any or- 
der that it may make. This is alleged to be the conspiracy of a state, al- 
though the state is not and could not be made a party to the bill. 
Hans vs. Louisiana, 134 U. S. 1. The Circuit Court has no constitu- 
tional power to control its action by any direct means. And if we 
leave the state out of consideration the court has as little practical 
powei' to deal with the people of the state in a body. The bill im- 
ports that the great mass of the white poimlation intends to keep the 
blacks from voting. To meet such an intent something more than 
ordering the plaintiff's name to be inscribed upon the lists of 1902 



24 



will he lUHMled. It' the conspiracy aud the intent exist, a name on a 
piece of paper will not defeat them. Unless we are prepared to super- 
vise the voting in that state by otiicers of the court, it seems to us 
that all that the jilaintitf could get from eipiity would be an empty 
form. 

■'Apart from damage to the individual, relief from a great political 
wrong, if done, as alleged, by the people of a state and the state it- 
self, must be given by them or by the legislative and political depart- 
ment of the government of the United States." 

It has been held that the first section of the fifteenth amendment 
is self-executing, and that of its own force it renders void all legis- 
lation which discriminates against citizens of the United States on 
account of their race, color, or jircvious condition of servitude. As 
before jiointed out, however, such discriminations as are made are 
made in practice and not in legislation. 

The main and ditticult (luestion is how to reach and correct the 
wrongs of practic(> ; wrongs which all liands publicly decry, and whi<-li 
both [)arties all over the c(mutry quietly <-ountenance and connive ;it. 
Political wrongs are by no means confined to the Soutli. They may 
aud doubtless do differ in character. It is a wrong of no less mag- 
nitude to segregate the voters '"into blocks of five with fun(is to handle 
them," and it is more insidi(ms and demoralizing than the changing 
of voting precincts without adeiiuale notice to all the voters, shifting 
the ballot boxes during the day. or even the falsification of the re- 
lurns. Fewer men ai'c corruiited l)y these practices than by whole- 
sale bribery. Are oui' brethren in otlier sections of the country, there- 
fore, in a condition to throw stones? They cut a ludicrous caper when 
they attempt it. They are tarred with the same stick. 

I do not iK'licvc that corrupt election i)ractices prevail throughout 
the country to any such extent as to call for any general legislation 
on the sul).iect. The decision of particular contests seems to be all 
that needs be anti<-ipated. And after all is said, deplorable as are 
the corrupt election in-actices in the country, they must find their 
speediest and surest correcticm in the development of a healthy ami 
])atriotic local sentiment on the subject. 

The recent constitutional amendment in North Carolina has liiost 
certainly improved political conditions. It has emancipated many 
white Democrats, and the party lash is not so terrible as it once was. 
If, therefore, the assumption is correct, that no general legislation 
by congress, such as was attempted in the so-called "force-bills" need 
be apprehended, so long as conditions do not iiecome nnicli worse than 
taey are now; it is e(pially correct to assume that congress will not 
attempt to interfere with, and regulate the conditions prevailing in 
any particular state, under the provision of Article IV. Section 4, of 
the Constitution : 

"The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union 
a re]iublican form of goveriunent, and shall protect each of them 



25 

against invasion : iind on application of the legislature, or of the exe- 
cutive (when tlie legislature cannot be convened) against domestic 
violence." 

It is difficult to eonceive of conditions which could make this pro- 
vision the basis of congressional interference, except in the case of 
armed revolution, with which the state authorities were not able to 

cope. 

Alexander Hamilton in advocating the adoption of this provision, 

says, in the Federalist, XXI : 

"The inordinate pride of state importance has suggested to 
sonie minds an objection to the principle of a guarantee in the fed- 
eral government, as involving on officious interference in the domestic 
concerns of the members. A scruple of this Idnd would deprive us 
of one of the principal advantages to be ex])ected from union: and 
can only flow from a misapprehension of the nature of the provision 
itself. It could be no impediment to reforms of the state constitutions 
by a majority of the i)eople. in a legal and peaceable mode. This right 
would remain undiminished. The guarantee could only operate 
against changes to be effectetl by violence."- 

Action has time and again Iteen invoked under this provision, in 
cases in the courts, one of the latest being that of Taylor vs. Beck- 
ham, from Kentucky. 178 U. S. Rep. Chief Justice Fuller in deliver- 
ing the opinion of the court, says: 

"It was lonu- ago settled that the enforcement of this guarautee 
belonged to the ]iolitical department" . . . "We must decline to take 
jurisdiction on the ground of deprivation of rights embraced by the 
fourteenth amendment, without due process of law, or of the violation 
(.f the guarantee of a republican form of government by reason of 
similar deprivation." 

Again, on tliis subject. Chief .Tustice Taney in Luther vs. Borden. 

says : 

"It is the ])rovince of the court to expound the law. not to make it. 
And certainly it is no part of the judicial functions of any court of 
the United f^tates to i)rescril)e the (pmliflcation of voters in a state, 
giving the right to those to whom it is denied by the written and es- 
tablished constitution and laws of the state, or tak.ng it away from 
those to whom it is given : nor has it the right to determine what po- 
litical privileges the citizens of a state are entitled to, unless there is 
an established constitution or law to govern its decision." 

The political powers of the government acted under this provis- 
ion in passing on the credentials of senators and representatives from 
the states that had lieen in insurrection during the civil war: and 
it was potent in securing the amendments to the constitution of those 
states. But we are all now happily reunited, and the power of this 
provision is slumbering. There is nothing on the horizon to indicate 
the probal)e occurrence of events in any state in the union to awaken 
it. 



26 

There is at almost every session of congress one or more l)ills In- 
frodnced. whic-li are fonndecl on the seoonrl section of the fourteenth 
nuHMKliiicnt. whicii is in these words: 

"Representatives shall be apportioned anions the several states 
according to their resjtective numliers. counting the whole nunilier of 
I)ersons in each state, excluding indians not taxed. Rut when the 
right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for president 
and vice-president of the United States, representatives in ccmgress. 
the executive and .iudicial officers of a state, or the members of the 
legislature therof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such 
state, being 21 years of age, and citizeiis of the Tnited Sta.tes, or" in 
an.v way abridged except for participating in reliellion. or other crime, 
the basis of representation therein shall l>e reduced in the proportion 
which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole num- 
ber of male citizens 21 years of age in such state." 

It lias been held in the case of McPherson vs. Blacker, 146 U. S. R., 
that the right to vote herein referred to and intended to be protected. 
is the right to vote as established by the consitution and laws of the 
state. This provision therefore, provided, of course, it is a workable 
Itiece of constitutional machinery, can be invoked to reach many of 
the corrupt election practices. It is simply a (juestion of whether 
they prevail to such an extent as to denmnd action by congress. The 
provision is penal in its nature. In modern times there are not a 
great many men prevented from voting who desire to vote, and are 
qualified to vote under the constitution and laws of the states in which 
they live. Intimidation to keep him away from the i)oIls, or to pre- 
vent his voting, has given place to milder and more persuasive meth- 
ods of influence. For numerous party reasons it is desirable that the 
vote polled shall be as large as possible. Representation in conven- 
tions is, by many of the plans of party organization, based on the vote 
polled. This is a great incentive for each county to send uii a large 
vote. Her favorite son may need that strength in a nominating con- 
vention. Rivalries among i)arty leaders induces each one to see that 
his county shows up with as large a vote ])olled, or returned, as pos- 
sil)le. Where there are, as sometimes happens, ficticious votes re- 
turned, in order to increase the strength of some county, or some" 
candidate in a nominating convention, then the unsuccessful ones, 
though they many have connived at silimar ]iractices. make the welkin 
ring with their lamentations. 

It would practically require a census and special investigation of 
of the case of every supposed voter in the state, who failed to vote at 
the preceding election, before congress could, with any justice, reduce 
the representation of any state under this provision. The "stay at 
home" vote is large in almost every election, and it can by no means 
be sweepingly asserted that these "stay at homes" have had their 
right to vote "denied, or in any wa.v abridged." 

There has been some talk in the past, of changing the Repulilican 



r 



27 

party's plan of orgaiiization. and redneing the representation of the 
Southern States in the national nominatini; convention: alleging as a 
reason for so doing that tliose states give no Repnhlican votes in the 
electoral college to the imrty's candidate, and that they should not he 
allowed to hold in the convention a strength which might enable them 
fo name the candidate. This talk shows a desire, in ci'rtain (]uarters. 
to' still further discriminate against the South. Southern Kepnl)li- 
cans should not he intimidated or coerced hy such talk. More inde- 
pendence, and more concert of action in national conventions is one 
thing Southern Uepuldicans need to nnike their party at home stronger 
as a voting party. It is cowardly to exercise and enjoy ones i)olitical 
and party rights in a fawning manner. If they cannot he used in any 
other manner, then they ought to he abridged. Southern Kepuldicans. 
can. indeed, do nothing that will m(n-e advance the cause of tlie South, 
generally, and of the ne])uhlican i)arty in the South, than hy taking a 
manly and independen.t stand in the national convention. If. as a re- 
sult of such conunendal)le conduct their representation in their party 
conventions should be reduced, they should welcome it. Discord and 
division, n< kleness and unreliability are characteristics which will 
moi-t> certaiidy in.vite a reduction of rejiresentation than unity and 
concord. There is a great future for the Republican party in the 
South, but local Republicans must inaugurate the movement for 
habilitation. Under existing c(niditions the tirst step in this direction 
must lie taken at the national convention. 



"Xo wave on the great ocean of time, when once it has floated past 
us. can he recalled. All we can do it to waich the new form and mo- 
tion of the next, and launch upon it to try in the manner our best 
judgment nmy suggest, our strength and skill." 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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